Chapter 29: Study Session with Yuri

I made up my mind to study hard, and initially, I planned to just lock myself in my room and study alone.

It had only been a week since I fell behind, but when combined with all the subjects, the amount of work was quite large.

Still, I figured that if I studied hard for just a few days, I could catch up on the progress I missed.

If it didn’t work out, I thought I could borrow my friends’ notes and get by.

“So, about today, I think it’s better if you guys go without me.”

I had promised to go shopping at a newly opened store with them after being discharged, but I decided to skip out to study and told my friends about it.

“No way! Everyone was waiting to go with you, El!”

“I’m really sorry. But if I want to catch up on my lessons, I think I have no choice. Please understand just a little.”

I felt bad for making them wait for a week because of me, but there was no other choice.

Of course, if I skipped just today and started from tomorrow, it wouldn’t cause too much of a problem, but today could turn into two, three, or even four days of skipping.

It’s best to start quickly when you’ve made up your mind.

“But if El isn’t coming, it won’t be the same.”

Celian also voiced her disappointment, complaining in a way that wasn’t exactly a complaint.

Seeing her sullen expression made my guilt grow. Maybe I should just ignore it and let today slide…?

“Hmm… then how about I help you study?”

While everyone was stuck in indecision, Yuri spoke up.

“If we study together, you should catch up quickly, don’t you think?”

Honestly, I would be grateful if Yuri helped me. But even though I was thankful, I also felt guilty.

“You don’t have to waste your time on me. If you do, I’ll feel even more guilty, so I can’t accept that.”

I tried to refuse, but Yuri, unlike her usual quiet voice, raised it and spoke firmly.

“I’ve gotten a lot of help from you, El. If I can help you now, I’d like to. Or… am I a bother?”

Her voice, which had grown louder, trailed off at the end.

“No, no! That’s not it at all. Actually, I’d be the one asking for your help. Please, help me!”

I quickly spoke to soothe the now downcast Yuri, but once I said it, there was no taking the words back.

“Really?”

As soon as Yuri heard that, she immediately raised her voice again and grabbed my hand, her eyes sparkling as she asked.

Sigh… I guess I’ll just have to accept Yuri’s help and put on a brave face.

“I’ll… I’ll help too. I’m confident I can teach well.”

“Huh?”

Then, Celian, who had been watching us, grabbed my other hand, the one not held by Yuri, and looked up at me as she spoke.

“What’s this? Am I being left out again? I’m helping El too!”

“Huh?”

And then, unexpectedly, Anne, who had been standing behind me, hugged my waist and shouted.

“As the class president, it’s my duty to help a classmate, you know. I have no choice!”

“Huh?”

Then, the class president, who had come to deliver some prints, saw what was going on and spoke up.

“…Come to think of it, first-year swordsmanship students also learned the basics of magic. I can definitely teach magic.”

“Huh?”

And then, for some reason, Precia, who had come to find me first, quickly understood the situation and spoke.

???

Before I knew it, my friends had all decided on their own to help me, regardless of my opinion.

Since I couldn’t bring myself to disappoint everyone who was so eager, I couldn’t refuse their help entirely.

“But since the goal is to teach and not just study together, wouldn’t it be better if we did it one-on-one?”

“Just the two of us… Yes. Studying alone would definitely be more efficient. Then, I’ll…”

“Aww~ Celian, you’re trying to monopolize El all to yourself! I’ll do it too!”

“M-Monopolize? That’s not what I…!”

“…I can teach magic better than anyone else.”

“I’m not bad at taking notes either!”

The scene had turned into complete chaos. By the way, Yuri, do you even know that the person you just spoke so casually to is a professor from the Magic Department? I know she looks young, like Anne, (and technically, she is a kid), but she is actually a professor in the Magic Department. You need to be careful with your words…

“Then how about we take turns and teach in order?”

The class president, who had been watching the chaos unfold, clapped her hands once and suggested a solution.

Everyone seemed to think it over for a moment, and then they nodded, seemingly agreeing with Lena’s suggestion as a reasonable one.

…Why is no one asking for my opinion?

*Time with Yuri *

In the end, we all agreed that we would each take turns and help me one day at a time. I figured if I said anything at this point, I’d surely face a backlash, so I just stood quietly and nodded along.

Knock, knock

While I was tidying up the room, the clock on the desk signaled the time we had agreed upon, and just as the time hit, a precise knock came from the door. It seemed like the timing was just right by coincidence, rather than Yuri having waited and knocked the moment the time arrived.

“Just a minute~”

I finished cleaning the desk and opened the door.

“Welcome, Yuri.”

“Hey, El. Sorry for the trouble.”

Yuri gently greeted me in a manner that suited her well and stepped inside my room.

“I hope I’m not taking up too much of your time.”

“If you say that one more time, I might really get mad?”

Although she said she was mad, her puffed-up cheeks made her look more like a cute little animal, and I couldn’t help but think it was adorable. In fact, I kind of wanted to make her even more upset. Now that I think about it, I’ve never actually seen Yuri truly angry…

For a moment, the image of me apologizing to her flashed in my mind.

I shook my head vigorously to erase the scene from my thoughts. Right. I don’t remember anything. Our kind Yuri would never get angry.

She was just worried about me and made me eat an apology!

“El?”

Yuri called my name in a puzzled tone, noticing I was lost in my own thoughts.

“No! Nothing!”

Thankfully, Yuri didn’t seem to notice anything odd in my unusually loud reply. She tilted her head once and then let it go.

“By the way, it’s my first time entering your room, El.”

“Is it?”

Now that I think about it, I’ve greeted friends at the door before, but it’s the first time I’ve invited someone into my room. To be honest, if any guy found himself alone with a girl in his room, he would definitely feel nervous. But since becoming a girl, I only felt that nervousness at first. Now, aside from the occasional times, I could treat it like any other normal situation.

…Yes, I apologize. I tried to act calm, but this is that “occasionally” moment.

Yuri, who had stepped into my room, began looking around as if she was seeing something unusual.

Of course, any items that could reveal my secret identity as an assassin had already been disposed of or hidden away. So, I wasn’t worried about that. However, my room, unlike others, had a somewhat barren corner, and I was a little worried she might think it’s strange.

“I’ll take my time exploring your room later, but shall we start studying now?”

Fortunately, Yuri didn’t make any comments about my room and immediately began to take out textbooks and notebooks from her bag to start studying as planned.

“Okay. Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

And so, I ended up receiving one-on-one tutoring from Yuri.

“This part can be easily solved by substituting the formula we learned before.”

“Really? Then like this…”

The math problem I had been stuck on was solved effortlessly by Yuri as she gave me a hint. Just as Yuri said, by applying the formula I already knew, the problem was solved easily. I had heard that being good at studying and being good at teaching are different, but Yuri was talented at both.

“Oh, it really works right away?”

“Now that you’re more familiar with the problems, want to try this one? It’s an advanced problem, so it might be hard, but if you can solve this, it means you’ve completely understood this part.”

Yuri said this and handed me a problem written in her notebook.

“This is a problem the professor assigned during class. It has a solution, so it would be good to try solving it yourself and then compare it.”

“Okay. Just give me a moment.”

I took the pen and began solving the problem that Yuri handed me. But as she had said, the difficulty level was noticeably higher than the problems I had seen before. From the start, I was unsure which formula to use or how to approach the problem.

So, I spent a long time thinking. Since it wasn’t an exam, I wasn’t pressured by time and focused only on solving the problem on my own.

I scribbled on my notebook, substituted different formulas, realized when something was wrong, returned to the beginning, and tried again.

After struggling with the problem for a while, I finally saw a breakthrough. After that, it was quick. Although the entire page of my notebook was filled with the solving process, I was able to find a satisfactory answer. Of course, I still didn’t know if it was the correct answer or not. Now, it was time to check with Yuri.

I slid the notebook toward Yuri while checking the solution and answer I had written, hoping to confirm if I had solved it correctly.

However, there was no response from Yuri.

“Yuri?”

I called her name, since I needed her to tell me if I was wrong or right so I could move on to the next step.

“Uh, huh!?”

Yuri, who had been looking away, turned her head and froze when she met my gaze. What was that about?

“I solved it all…”

“Uh, yeah!”

When I slid the notebook toward Yuri again, she finally realized what I meant and took the notebook to check my solution and answer.

Did she doze off?

Well, even if she was studying herself, she must have gotten sleepy. Just watching someone else study must have been boring too.

Even so, I silently thanked Yuri for not showing any signs of it and patiently waited for her to grade my work.

“Yeah. It’s perfect. Now, you just need to practice these problems so you don’t forget the concepts.”

“Ugh~ Why do we even learn math?”

I sighed as I leaned back in the chair and stretched. I glanced at the clock and realized it was almost time for roll call.

“You should head back to your room now. You might get demerits. Thank you so much for today.”

If Yuri were to receive demerits because of me, I would feel so guilty that I wouldn’t even be able to face her. Therefore, I tried to send Yuri back before she got too late.

However, Yuri was still hesitating, fiddling with her textbook and notebook, not putting them back into her bag.

“Yuri?”

“Umm…”

“Yeah?”

Yuri, who had been hesitating, nodded to herself and then spoke again.

“Can I stay in your room tonight… like we used to, back when we were younger?”

“…?”

I was taken aback by the sudden overload of information. After a moment, I finally managed to understand what Yuri was saying.

No, what is she saying… a grown woman, without any shame…

However, just as I was about to respond to Yuri, I remembered my current situation.

I was no longer the ‘3rd person’ who used to be a guy, but now a woman, ‘Elysia Frentz.’ From Yuri’s perspective, I was probably the same childhood friend she used to play with, back when we were younger. She must have brought it up because she was reminded of those memories.

If I were truly Elysia, I would have accepted Yuri’s suggestion without a second thought. But since I still carried the memories of being a man, I wasn’t bold enough to sleep in the same room with a girl.

I wasn’t that shameless yet.

“Well, that’s…”

“We don’t have much math left, so let’s quickly finish it today and move on to the next subject tomorrow.”

“But…”

“Is that… not okay…?”

“I-I’m sure it’s not… impossible…?”

I opened my mouth to refuse, but before I could say anything, Yuri looked up at me with sparkling eyes and asked again.

I should have refused, but when I saw the expectation in Yuri’s eyes, I unconsciously agreed. I felt like I had experienced this déjà vu before. But surely, it must be an illusion.

By the time I realized what I had said, Yuri was already happily heading back to her room to get her roll call.

… I’m not a trash person.